Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Short Interest Down 8.0% in January

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the January 15th total of 7,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $49.90. 2,685,515 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,749,963. The firm has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.23. Ball has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.5% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ball by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.